ROOTED IN JESUS
A Course in Christian Discipleship for Africa

Roger

Canon Roger Morgan

Hotay

Bishop Stanley Hotay

Alison Morgan

Revd Dr Alison Morgan

Bruce Woolley

Revd Bruce Woolley

Sue Whitehead

Sue Whitehead

Cate

Catherine Mwega

kiinga

Kinga Gorak

 

 

Who is involved in Rooted in Jesus?


Rooted in Jesus was conceived in 2002 in conversation between Stanley Hotay of the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro, now the Bishop of that diocese, and Canon Roger and Revd Dr Alison Morgan of the Diocese of Leicester. Rooted in Jesus was piloted in the Dioceses of Mount Kilimanjaro and Kiteto, Tanzania, since when it has spread to many other places. Rooted in Jesus is published and supported by the Mathetes Trust.

''Mathetes' is the New Testament word for 'disciple', and the Mathetes Trust exists to advance Christian discipleship through training, support and provision of resource materials to churches, church leaders and chuch members in the UK, Africa and elsewhere in the world. The Mathetes Trust is a registered UK charity based in Wells, Somerset.

Rooted in Jesus : Who are we?
Canon Roger Morgan is the director of the Mathetes Trust. Formerly Head of the Management Studies Department at Cambridge University, Roger spent 24 years in parish ministry as incumbent of St Columba's Corby and then Holy Trinity Leicester. From 2008-2016 Roger worked as a missioner with the UK charity ReSource. He is the author of a number of books and course materials on various aspects of Christian ministry. Roger's current ministry focus is mission and mentoring. He is a Canon of Leicester Cathedral and Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He holds Permission to Officiate from the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Bishop Stanley Hotay first commissioned Rooted in Jesus for the dioceses of Mount Kilimanjaro and Kiteto, Tanzania, where it was piloted and developed. Stanley now oversees Rooted in Jesus in the Province of Tanzania from his office in Arusha. He is also the Director of the Here's Life evangelistic programme in East Africa.
Revd Dr Alison Morgan is the editor of Rooted in Jesus and the author of the various training materials which are used to introduce and support the programme. Alison has a PhD from Cambridge University and prior to her ordination in 1996 was a university lecturer. She worked for many years alongside her husband Roger in parish ministry, and then as a thinker and writer with the UK charity ReSource. Alison has published various books and course materials in addition to Rooted in Jesus. Best known for The Wild Gospel, her most recent book is Following Jesus: The Plural of Disciple is Church. She holds Permission to Officiate from the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Revd Mike Cotterell is a Trustee of the Mathetes Trust. Mike has been involved with Rooted in Jesus for many years, and is one of our most experienced Team Leaders, working in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan. After his retirement from his ministry as the Vicar of St Paul's Slough, Mike now lives in Shropshire. He holds Permission to Officiate from the Diocese of Lichfield.
Canon Andrew Evans is a Trustee of the Mathetes Trust. Andrew is the Vicar of St Katharine's Church, Holt, and Rural Dean of Bradford Deanery in the Diocese of Salisbury. Andrew is passionate about mission and feels called to seek to open up the rural church to God's vibrant life. Prior to ordination Andrew worked as a solicitor.
Sue Whitehead is the Rooted in Jesus Administrator. Sue has been a member of various Anglican churches and is currently a member of her local Methodist church, along with her husband and family. Sue joined the team in 2022. She also works part time for the Diocese of Bath & Wells.
Kinga Gorak, formerly the Rooted in Jesus Administrator, moved back to Poland with her family in January 2017. Kinga continues to help with the formatting of new translations of the Rooted in Jesus books.
 


Rooted in Jesus Facilitators

We have a network of experienced Rooted in Jesus trainers drawn from the UK, from Africa, from the US and from Australia.

Chosen for their experience of facilitating Christian discipleship in the context of small groups, all UK team members are authorised and trained by the Rooted in Jesus office, and work from the latest edition of the Rooted in Jesus training materials provided to them when they are appointed. Team leaders are normally ordained clergy. Rooted in Jesus Junior facilitators are people experienced as church leaders, youth workers, teachers and Sunday School teachers.

African team members are drawn from the national leadership team or from those serving as diocesan coordinators within their own dioceses.

 

Rooted in Jesus Coordinators

In each diocese, Rooted in Jesus is supported by a Diocesan Coordinator appointed by the Diocesan Bishop, who has oversight of Rooted in Jesus within the diocese. The role of the Coordinator is to keep in touch with group leaders and parishes where RinJ or RinJ Junior has been introduced, to monitor progress, provide advice and encouragement, and award certificates to group members as they complete each book of the course. Some dioceses choose to appoint a separate Coordinator for the Junior programme, and large dioceses or networks may also choose to appoint deanery or regional coordinators.

In addition to their supervisory role, Coordinators provide ongoing training within the diocese, and many travel on Rooted in Jesus teams to other dioceses. It is with the Coordinator that the primary responsibility for the successful implementation of Rooted in Jesus lies. Coordinators report directly to the Diocesan Bishop.

 

Rooted in Jesus in Tanzania
Rooted in Jesus was first designed for the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro. Stanley Hotay is now Bishop of that Diocese, and in January 2014 he took over responsibility for overseeing Rooted in Jesus within Tanzania. He is supported by two Regional Coordinators, Bishop James Almasi of Masasi and Canon Jacob Robert of Mara.
The Rooted in Jesus Tanzania administrator is Catherine Mwega. Cate has a degree in accountancy and is a member of Christ Church cathedral in Arusha.
Rooted in Jesus training is conducted within Tanzania by a national team of diocesan coordinators.


Rooted in Jesus in South Africa
In South Africa Rooted in Jesus is overseen by Revd Bruce Woolley, Director of Growing the Church, working with Estelle Adams, the national coordinator. Growing the Church is based in Cape Town.
A national team of experienced practitioners provides training within South Africa both for Rooted in Jesus and for its companion programme The God Who is There.


To find out where Rooted in Jesus is being used click here

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